While O’Connor was correct in everything he said, he was being extremely generous.

Yes, the defending county champions are missing key players (London inter-county player Lloyd Colfer and veteran Kevin Waldron to name a few) and, yes a win is a win.

But he was hiding the fact that the Kingdom rarely looked like defending champions at any stage during this dull encounter at Ruilsip on Saturday. The corresponding fixture last year resulted in a facile 17-point victory for The Kingdom.